Fortune Bank is a very small business bank, with only two offices and $144 million in assets. But it's been effective in leveraging technology to help it compete with larger banks.

Last fall, Fortune launched mobile banking tools for its customers. And the bank also recently replaced an aging local server infrastructure with cloud-based storage from Compushare, a technology management company for banks.

For the cloud conversion, Fortune was recently recognized as the Innovative Community Bank of the Year by Western Independent Bankers, at the organization’s annual conference in Kauai, Hawaii.

By going to a web-based data storage system, Fortune CEO David Straus said the bank now has secure, centralized data that is accessible by bank employees. Straus said he can sit at his desk in the morning and review everything that happened at the bank the previous day.

Through Fidelity Information Service, a bank processing company that caters to community banks, Fortune also offers mobile-banking services.

“It’s a great equalizer for us in terms of what we can do on a day-to-day basis for our clients,” said Straus.

The technology includes remote data capture, which allows clients with machines at their locations to send checks through to the bank to be deposited electronically. Or the clients can use their mobile app to capture an image of the check and send it to the bank.

Despite having just two offices, one in Bellevue and one in downtown Seattle, six-year-old Fortune Bank has used mobile technology to cater to customers beyond the region, including in Camas, Wash., and Portland.

Straus said Fortune is not active in a lot of the businesses that big banks deal in, such as investment services. But with technology, the bank can offer big-bank-like services to its customers.

“You’ve got to make the experience a good one for your clients, or somebody else will,” Straus said.